One Step at a Time
by silver-hedgehog
Summary: A fresh start. That's what her parents thought she needed when she became depressed from the death of her fiancé. In a bid to restore their daughter, Leaf is enrolled in a new private school filled with stuck up rich boys and girls who thrive on drama. What happens when Leaf becomes the center of attention with a story they'll never understand? ORS. Possible other shippings.
1. Prologue

One Step at a Time

Well, heeellllloooooo to my readers. This is my new drama fic. It's going to be predominantly Leaf x Gary… Actually, I might make it ORS only, just to make things worse for Leaf… But that usually makes for a good plot (at least I think so). But I'm still deciding.

Anyway, this is just a prologue so sorry for its shortness but I still hope you like it.

Prologue

_One step forward and two steps backwards._

She sat up straight in her bed; her head glistened with little beads of sweat that ran through her hair and her breathing fast and short. She looked at her alarm clock on the bedside table to her right. At four fifteen in the morning, most girls Leaf's age would be fast asleep on a school night, dreaming about that particular boy in her class with the dreamy blue eyes and the perfect smile.

For Leaf, that ended a year ago. Last year Leaf lost the love of her life, her fiancé, the man who she vowed she would marry one day when they were older than the mere fifteen years old she was when they made that sincere promise; when he gave her that bronze coloured wire skillfully coiled up into a ring with a heart.

The vivid images of him frolicking in the grass with her on a hot summer's day still lingered in her mind even though Leaf desperately tried to escape it by waking up. The memories made Leaf cry, knowing that they were no more, a mere vision of what was.

As soon as the news that a car crash killed her fiancé made its way to Leaf, her grades, social life and mental health started to deteriorate.

And the silver lining to the cloud never came. Things never got better. Leaf became almost zombie like with her actions. There were no emotions of any kind behind anything she did. She didn't eat because she wanted to but because she was made to. Her exterior portrayed nothing but an empty shell that shielded her from everything good or bad. She did not even try to hide her discontent with life.

She worried everyone around her. Her parents, her friends, her family. But one by one, she pushed them away, not wanting to deal with their sympathy that would do nothing but remind her that he is no longer here. Like how she thought she should be.

On the day of her fiancé's death, Leaf should have been in that car sitting next to him. She should have went to his parents' house for the family reunion with him but instead she was at home with the fever. Dying. It was a sign. She was suffering and so was he. Then he wasn't.

The memory still pains Leaf. Two year later she still hasn't moved on. She sometimes wonders if she ever will.

* * *

A fresh start. A new beginning. Turning over a new _Leaf. _

That's what her parents kept hammering on about. Starting over in another town.

Leaf did not protest when they brought it up. She didn't quite comprehend what she has been told. Leave her hometown and move to somewhere new where people she didn't know nor care for would inevitably see her as an introvert. A freak.

"Leaf? Leafy dear?" her mother's gentle voice called out. She had opened the door to her side of the car and was waiting for her to step out of the vehicle.

Leaf looked at her mother "Yes?" she managed to choke out. The combination of new day jitters and flashbacks to her old home bubbling in her stomach were not a good combination.

"We're at your new school." She announced as she handed Leaf her bag once she had stepped out of the car, the car that had driven Leaf and her fiancé back and forth from the same places several times before.

"Thanks." Leaf muttered as she raised her arm to shield her jade green eyes from the glaring rays of the sun.

Her mother stepped in front of her and wrapped her arms around her and pulled the brunette into a tight squeeze. "Have a nice day, sweetie." She said in a cheerful way that seemed false to Leaf, like she was putting it on to disguise the fact that she knew how the day would turn out, and not even in a positive way.

"Thanks." Leaf muttered again as she watched her mother climb back into the driver's seat of the car and wave her goodbye before slowly pulling away and leaving the vulnerable seventeen year old behind.

Leaf turned round again and eyed up the pristine walls that formed her new school, Pallet High School, a private school with the most up-to-date technology and renowned teachers in spacious classrooms. She could tell that the school was posh when she saw clean, slick cars pull up to the drop off area and men dressed in flawless black suits and hats suits step out of the vehicles to open the door for some stuck up rich kid.

She felt the students' eyes burn on her as they stared and walked right past her, not one student offering to help her or welcome her. Her head was held down, watching the gum-free floors that the students walked on, with their heads held high. It needless to say that Leaf felt inferior beside these teenagers.

Leaf watched the students walk into the building, letting them stare at her as they went. She didn't know whether she should go in herself or try to run away from this and back to where she's from. But alas, she came to a decision. One that would make her mother proud.

She inhaled deeply then exhaled, and took her first steps forward.

* * *

So, that's the prologue, I like the idea of this fic just now so if you review, I'm likely to update this fairly quickly and I promise future chapters will be longer (my typical chapters are around 2000 words long excluding my wee rambles pre- and post-chapter).

So, yeah, comment please and I'll love you guys forever!


	2. Chapter 1

One Step at a Time

People reviewed the last chapter so I'm super-duper happy it's going well, in fact, so well that I've decided to post the next chappie! Hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: see profile

Chapter 1

_The world is round with a place which may seem like the end but is only the beginning._

Leaf sat in the tastefully decorated office alone. The man who called himself the principal of the school had left her alone to deal with 'a more pressing matter' but he promised he would be back in less than ten minutes. Not that Leaf cared though. She was glad that the principal had left her, giving her time to adjust to her new environment. Her palms felt less sweaty while she was alone and she became less anxious too, though all that returned the moment the principal did.

The door opened enough to allow the professor to get in, but not enough for whoever was on the other side to see into the room. He didn't sound impressed with whoever he was speaking to.

"No Gary that is an unacceptable answer. We will talk about this later. Now get to class." The principal said then proceeded to return to his duties, the first being to escort Leaf to her class. He wasn't too keen on the thought of walking her to her new class. It was far and she barely spoke a word to him since they met.

Leaf turned round and watched as the principal, whose name she couldn't recall, shut the door behind him and take his seat. Now, where were we?" he asked Leaf, though even he thought it was pointless to ask. He was unlikely to get an answer out of her. "Ah, yes, I shall personally escort… You know what? I have a really busy um, schedule today. My assistant will walk you to your class." He said then ordered in a smartly dressed woman.

"Yes, Mr Oak?" the lady said as she came into the room.

"Please escort Leaf to her new class with Erica?" Principal Oak ordered then dismissed them.

"Of course." Rhonda said as she signalled for Leaf to follow her.

The walk to class was silent, as the principal had predicted. Rhonda had attempted to start a conversation with Leaf several times but the teen had shot down each attempt, leaving the conversation to sink faster than the Titanic.

"This is your class." Rhonda announced as she knocked on the open door to grab the attention of a petite woman standing in front of the class of twenty odd students. "Erica, this is the new student Leaf Green."

Erica smiled sweetly and proceeded to say a few welcoming words that Leaf blanked. Not intentionally though. She found it hard to concentrate on what the teacher was saying when there were so many pairs of eyes staring at her and so many lips talking about her.

Through the murmurs she could hear people judge her. "Escorted to class on her first day by a receptionist, not even good enough for the principal. She must be poor", "Look at her face, she looks worn out like she's been _working!"_

Erica frowned. She too heard the comments and silenced the class quickly, "Leaf, why don't you take a seat anywhere you like, I'll be back to inform you of a few things in a few minutes." She said and darted back to where Rhonda stood.

Leaf timidly slid into the seat at the front of the class and set her bag on the desk.

The students stared at her intently, like she was some rabid animal at the zoo. An unfamiliar face is always something that caught the attention of the student body. A few of the boys at the back snickered at each other.

Within seconds of sitting down, Leaf saw a shadow approach her, at least she thought it was. They surrounded her; two guys standing behind her, one on either side of her and, who Leaf assumed to be the ring leader of the gang, in front of her, putting his hands on her desk in a cool yet demanding manner. All eyes were on them, all chatter had ceased.

The spiky haired brunet eyed Leaf up and down slowly with his cyan eyes, making her heart beat faster from a mixture of nerves, fear and anxiety. Her throat was dry too, but that dust matter, she didn't intend on saying anything to this stranger.

He picked up a small, stray bundle of her long locks and twirled it round his index finger and smirked as he let it drop. He then moved his hand down towards her chin and tilted it upwards, giving him a better view of her sinking face.

"Pretty." he commented with a snort. "Pretty poor looking, that is."

His group laughed at his comment. The class watched intently. Leaf didn't look at him, her cold gaze was directed towards the shiny mahogany desk in front of her. She tore her chin from his hand.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" he asked tauntingly.

Leaf continued to avoid his eyes and tucked her chin into her chest even more. She knew something bad was going to happen to her next.

If Erica didn't suddenly come back into the classroom it would've, that is. She gasped when she came back into the class, knowing what had happen just by looking at Leaf's situation. "Gary, the principal wants to see you in his office." Erica says quickly, the words almost tooling over the one before as they spilled from her mouth.

Gary reluctantly removed his hands from her desk and stepped away from her. His gang then stepped back too, giving Leaf her personal space back. She watched the scene before her.

Gary took a few slow steps towards the teacher, who stumbled back a step. "Does he really want to see me now, or are just saying that?" he asked scarily, his face was close to Erica's and his glare was haunting. The height he had over her made him extra intimidating.

"Y-Yes. Right now." she said with a stutter that she tried to hide.

Gary then stepped away from her and left the room and his gang returned to their original space.

Leaf let out a sigh of relief. Now that that Gary wasn't here, the remaining four guys won't do anything scary to her, right?

* * *

Her morning classes passed with a blur. She remembered nothing that had happened except for the incident with Gary earlier. Erica had arranged the class so that no one had time to talk to Leaf, to her relief. The last thing she'd want was for another person to heckle her.

Lunch time was hard for Leaf. She didn't know where to sit. All the tables had at least three people sitting at them; most of the tables had a loud volume of chatter and a few of them had people glaring at her. She lowered her head and tried to walk the opposite way from the canteen area but stopped when she noticed the ring of shoes that had formed around her, blocking her path.

She raised her head slightly and then attempted to brush past the group of flawlessly dressed girls that had surrounded her but came to an abrupt stop when they got a hold of her bag. Leaf tried to lunge forward in a desperate bid to regain possession of her bag but two girls grabbed onto her arms, stopping her from moving forward.

The girl who looked to be the leader of the pack held up the brown bag. "Let's get to know our new friend here." She said with an evil glint in her half hidden eyes. She used her other hand to slowly unzip the bag and emptied everything onto the floor beneath. She used the toes of her scratch-free stiletto to rummage through the contents in Leaf's bag. "Let's have a little look at this, shall we?" she picked up Leaf's green purse and opened it. The purse was relatively empty except for the few notes, coins, cards and the one photo that Leaf treasured.

"Well, who's this?" the girl asked in tone that sounds as if she was talking to a child. She held the purse up to let her group of friends see the photo of Leaf and her fiancé, or rather, the guy who _was_ her fiancé.

"That's none of your business!" Leaf yelled as she tried to lunge forward for her purse but to no avail.

"Hmmm…" The girl poked around the scattered belongings on the floor again. "What's this?"

She picked up a small, pale green book that looked like a diary that had lots of little drawings scribbled on the front cover. Flicking through the book, the girl managed to catch glimpses of Leaf's neat handwriting and photos of various people, places and objects.

"Give it back!" Leaf yelled.

"This sounds rather important to you. Maybe I'll keep this and have a wee read." The girl was ready to pocket the diary when it was intercepted.

"I'll take this." The girl whipped round to see the principal with the diary now in his hands. "And this." He added, taking Leaf's purse out of the girl's hand too.

Leaf felt relieved that her diary was no longer in the possession of someone she could only describe as a bitch. She rubbed the parts of her arms that were previously gripped tightly by the blonde haired girls and picked up her bag and started to shove all her possessions – minus the diary and purse – back in.

The girls started to walk away while Leaf was packing her things. The last thing they wanted to do was to apologise for intruding Leaf's privacy, though, even if they did stick around, it was unlikely that Principal Oak would make them say sorry. With most of the students' parents donating so much money to keep the school in tip-top condition, making the students do things by force would be like committing reputation suicide.

Instead, the principal just said a stern, "We'll talk about this later, Olivia." and let the girl leave, to Leaf's annoyance.

But nonetheless, he did save her things. The least she could do was say 'thanks'. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Thanks." She said quietly and waited for the principal to hand her diary and purse back. She looked at him with a confused expression when he didn't.

"You can have this back when I see you and Olivia later." He clarified just before the bell went. "Now off to class."

First day and Leaf was going to be ordered down to the principal's office. Not exactly the best thing when trying to start fresh…

* * *

The professor flicked through the diary, trying to understand what all the fuss was when he stopped the situation from ascending any further. He had missed what had happened; only hearing Leaf demanding for her diary back.

He read through the first few entries and gathered that this was more of a journal than a diary that dated back to a few years ago. There were several pictures of a younger Leaf and people who the principal assumed to be her boyfriend, family and friends. When he flicked to the back, he saw something that raised concerns. Leaf wrote about everything in this notebook; her thoughts, her secrets – everything.

Even the death of her fiancé and his funeral in excruciating detail. Principal Oak felt his cheeks warm up from embarrassment from snooping so much in a teenage girl's journal. Maybe he needed to be made aware of a few things about this new girl.

He pressed a button on his phone on the desk. "Rhonda, call Leaf Green's parents for me please."

"Yes, Mr Oak. And Gary Oak is here to see you now." Rhonda said.

"Send him in."

The door opened without a knock and the almost six feet tall teen stepped into the room and took a seat across from the principal.

"Gramps." The teen said once he had made himself comfortable on the seat. His grandpa sighed at the sight of him. He had unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt and loosened his tie and had lost his blazer again. He looked nothing like the perfect students that the school produces, or at least rumours to.

"Gary, we need to deal with this issue one of your teachers has mentioned." He started.

"Will this teacher be Erica, by any chance?" he asked confidently. It wasn't the first time she had anonymously reported him to his gramps in the short period of time she had worked here.

"It doesn't matter which teacher but the point is you cannot disobey and belittle your teachers like that. You need to stop being so disrespectful and –"

"Mr Oak, Leaf Green's mother is here." Rhonda interrupted.

"Oh, good, send her in please." Principal Oak said into the phone. "Wait outside, Gary, I have a small matter to deal with but we will talk about your punishment later." He finished and picked up the journal, preparing himself for his talk with Mrs Green.

"Whatever." Gary said and stepped outside just as Rhonda led the guest in.

The principal stood up and extended his hand towards Mrs Green and shook hands with her. He waited until Rhonda was out of the room before he started to speak. It was a matter that needed to be spoken about in the utmost confidence.

Gary watched as Rhonda came out of the office and shoved his shoe in front of the path of the closing door to create a gap. If he was going to have to wait here then he may as well listen in. Sometime principal-parent talks were entertaining.

"Hello Principal Oak, I wonder why your assistant called me so urgently?" she said, unsure about why she was here.

"Yes, well, you see, Mrs Green, your daughter Leaf was involved in a little incident today with one of our students over this." He held up the green journal.

"That's Leaf's journal." She said, surprised that Leaf would part with something so precious to her. "She never goes anywhere without it."

"Well, I can see why. You see I had a wee look, to try to understand the situation Leaf was in with one of our other students and I was wondering after I read the last entry, is there something that the school should be made aware of?"

The brunette haired woman remained silent for a moment. "Well ever since that… That incident, Leaf has been a lot… Different, but don't worry, we've been seeing a specialist about it and she has it under control." She tried to reassure the older man.

"Okay." Principal Oak said, though he didn't sound completely convinced. "Anything else I should be made aware of?"

The woman shook he head right away. "Well, maybe a few minor things."

Gary listened carefully to the list that the woman was saying. It was at times like these that he enjoyed listening in on conversations.

* * *

That's this chapter done! Nothing too bad happened to Leaf but now that Gary's learnt a few things about Leaf that we are unaware of, what is he going to do? Use them of course!

Review please and I'll post the next chapter soon but here's a small snip just because I felt like I should give more away about the story.

Leaf sat at her desk. Her mood was worse than yesterday's and when a certain brunette haired boy strolled into class, she became even more wary and nervous. Even though she had only had one encounter with him, she could tell already that he was not someone to be messed with.

Her heart rate rocketed when she saw a pair of hands slam onto her desk. She swallowed hard and looked up at the same pair of cyan eyes that she saw yesterday.

He leaned in. "You have a secret that I want to know." He purred in her ear.


	3. Chapter 2

One Step at a Time

Well, here it is! The next chapter 2 of OSaaT! Please take the time to read my notes at the bottom as I have a favour to ask of you lovely people. And to answer LeafxGreenx3's question, Dawn, May and Misty will appear, but not all at once. One of them makes their debut in this chapter, but who...? You'll have to read on to find out!

Chapter 2

She watched the hands of the clock sit in place. She had questioned the time that the clock displayed several times. Why had the professor not called her down yet? Leaf couldn't concentrate on the lesson – she didn't even know what class she's in just now! The only thing that was on her mind was her journal, the one that the principal had confiscated off that snobby blonde Olivia.

It had been an hour since lunch ended. Why was she still sitting here? All she wanted was her journal back, maybe then she'd be able to at least attempt to pay attention. All she had done in the past hour was look at the clock and write down words that she didn't even try to comprehend.

Leaf continued to scribble down things, but stopped when she heard the phone ring. Her eyes were glued to the teacher when she answered the phone and they didn't leave even after she hung up.

"Leaf, Principal Oak would like to see you in his office."

She nodded and stood up, taking her bag with her. Retracing her step from earlier today backwards was proving more difficult than it sounded, considering how big the school was. Leaf scurried down the hallway trying to recognise unfamiliar plain walls and numbered doors, trying to find the principal's room quickly. Every second she spent away from her diary become increasingly heart wrenching for her.

When she did find her way to the atrium, where her little run in with the snobby blonde occurred, finding the way to the principal's office became pretty easy. The atrium was almost empty of people. There were the few dinner ladies cleaning up the last of the mess left on the tables and chairs. The dinner ladies worked in silence, letting the gentle trickling sound of water from the water machine drip out of the tiny aperture into the paper cone shaped cups.

Leaf looked at the student at the water machine. From the back, the student looked familiar, which to her was not a good sign. The only two people she remembered after a couple of hours in this hellhole were the girl she had a run in with and the boy she had a run in with. What a great first day. Considering the height and the lack of curves and the spikes that reached out from the head, Leaf concluded that this student was a boy, and the only boy she recognised here was him. Gary. There was no mistaking that that was him.

Leaf felt her heart beat faster from nerves of seeing him. She quickened her pace; almost breaking into a sprint in what she assumed was the right direction. Her footsteps created an echo of pitter-patters that reflected her increasing anxiousness. She could hear the sound of a pair of feet shifting as she passed Gary quickly, but not quickly enough.

He had the cup raised to his lips as he turned, just catching a glimpse of the new brunette in town. The corners of his lips turned up slyly. She looked scared. He liked that she looked scared. Gary downed the small volume of water and scrunched up the cup, tossing it directly into the bin beside the machine.

Leaf could sense Gary following behind her. Even with her quicksteps, she knew he could easily catch up to her. A guy who looked to be about six foot tall could surely easily catch up to her. She knew that if she made it past the double doors safely then she would be safe – he probably wouldn't try anything in the presence of other people, would he?

As Leaf moved closer and closer to the doors, she could feel Gary's presence getting stronger behind her. Leaf reached her hand out for the door handle, mentally cursing at the fact the doors had to be shut. There was no way she was going to make it to the principal's office now without some sort of abuse or whatever from the tall brunet.

She felt a tight grip on her upper arm and her body being pulled back up against the pale stone wall. Leaf held her breath, preparing herself for what was to come, though she had no idea what to expect. They were so close to the reception – literally right round the corner. If she screamed that would catch the attention of help but it would show just how vulnerable she is, making her a permanent victim, if she wasn't already one.

She shut her eyes tightly and turned her head to one side, not willing to face the boy who had pinned her flush against the wall. She could hear his breath in her ear, something that made her feel beyond petrified.

"Leaf Green! There you are!" came a pitchy female voice.

It wasn't what Leaf had anticipated to happen next, and she was thankful that this perky, old lady had appeared. Leaf hadn't even realised that Gary had released her and had walked away already. Where to, she had no clue.

"The principal has been expecting you." She said as she signalled for Leaf to follow her. "We were starting to think you got lost on your way down." she said, completely oblivious to Leaf's short, rapid breaths and pale face.

Leaf nodded and followed the lady, blocking out what she was going on about. Her mind had wondered off to where Gary had disappeared off to and what he dangers he was likely to inflict upon her. Her questions were answered when she saw him slouched on a seat outside the principal's office, having a blether with what had to be the one other student that she could name. She noticed that as the two students spoke, the girl shot her stone cold glares while Gary gave her a look with a wicked smile that sent chills down her spine, and not in a good way.

She tried to ignore the looks and went straight into the office, surprised to see her mother. So lying to her mother about how well day one went later was not going to happen.

* * *

Riding home with her mum was quiet. The only sound in the car was the sound of the engine operating. Leaf didn't know what to say to her mother, who made no effort to hide the disappointed look in her face. Her mother kept her green eyes in front, never peeling her gaze off the road in front of her to give her daughter a reassuring smile or something. The silent treatment was making Leaf feel even more frustrated with herself.

Her mum pulled up in their driveway and turned the engine off. She made no signs of getting out of the car and Leaf took that as a sign that they were going to have a chat about today's events at school.

"What did you do to provoke that girl at school today?" the older woman asked, trying to keep her tone steady though that only made the anger in her tone more evident.

"Nothing." Leaf said. Did her mum seriously think she did something? The thought made Leaf livid. And then remembering what Olivia had said – or rather lied about – back in the office only amplified the feelings that were knotting in her stomach. Did her mother really believe that Leaf, her daughter would just go up to someone and try to steal someone else's bag like that? Leaf had done things that had landed her in detention several times before in her life but doing illegal things like that never have and never will happen.

"But that girl, she said she saw you and that some other students witnessed it too." Her mother said.

Leaf looked at her mother incredulously. "You seriously think I would do that?" Leaf asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

"I just don't think-" Leaf interrupted her mother.

"Unbelievable." she said fiercely and got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She walked in the opposite direction of the leaf littered front porch and down the driveway, storming in the direction that the car had only driven down not five minutes ago. Taking some time to cool off alone was what she needed right now, especially since she didn't want to do or say anything to her mother that she may later come to regret.

She didn't know where she was going but she knew that wherever she ended up, 'home' was not going to be that place. She wandered out of the street, onto the main road, took a few turns and ended up at an empty park; the frowning, grey clouds must've warded all the young children off. Her hand reached the rope of swaying rope of the swings, steadying it before she made herself cosy as her legs swung back and forward, trying to propel herself up in the air, something she had never been able to do on a swing.

"You're doing it wrong." Said a voice from behind her after Leaf had sat there trying for a few minutes.

At first, Leaf dismissed the voice, suspecting that it was probably just a couple of passer-bys talking loudly to one another, but when the empty red swing next to her became no longer vacant, she realised that someone was talking to her.

"You have to move your legs like this." She said as she demonstrated moving her legs forward and backwards rhythmically with the swing.

Leaf stared at the short hazel colour haired girl. A carefree smile graced lips as she swung, picking up height in no time. She looked like she was having fun as she swung higher and higher, letting out an occasional laugh as the swing descended backwards and when she stopped moving her legs, the swings lifted less as she passed Leaf each time until she gradually stopped.

Leaf blinked at the girl, distracted by her sudden appearance. "Were you talking to me?" Leaf asked even though the brunette had already made it clear that she was.

"Who else would I be talking to?" she asked and looked like she was about tap her nose like how a mother would do to a child. Or what a boyfriend would do to his girlfriend… It wasn't till then did Leaf noticed the girl's eyes which were a beautiful glistening blue. They were the similar to her own, but also very different. She could tell that they held a story behind them and that story was not pretty.

"Right." Leaf said as she continued to do what she was doing before the girl appeared, though she did try to copy her technique. Legs straight forward, then bend back. Forward then back.

"No, no, no! You're still doing it wrong!" she said, waving her hands about dramatically in the air. "Like this." She said then started her demonstration again.

Leaf tried again once the girl had picked up some height and was soaring back and forth but it was no use; she couldn't get herself any higher than she did the first time she tried, to her frustration. The girl sighed when she noticed Leaf's failed attempt.

"Are you new around here?" she asked Leaf, making some idle chit chat. "I don't remember seeing you at school?"

Leaf nodded. "I moved here less than a week ago. I go to Pallet High School."

The girl made a sound that sounded like something between a gasp and a squeal, and then she eyed Leaf up. She watched the girl give her the visual voyage and then made a face that showed her discontent towards her.

"I've gotta go." The girl said as she leaped off the swing and walked away quickly and strangely.

Leaf watched as the girl scurried off with her head down. Was she okay? She seemed kind of… Bipolar, nice and sweet one second then, just like that, she looked like she saw a ghost and couldn't get away from her quickly enough.

What a day.

* * *

Almost eleven o'clock. No Leaf. Still.

Leaf's mother had waited for her daughter all night, worried that something had happened to her precious daughter while she was out. She hadn't been home since she walked out several hours ago and it was bucketing outside. What if her daughter was actually more upset than she thought and had attempted to commit suicide? She shuddered at the thought and clutched the phone in her hands tighter. She hadn't completely dismissed the possibility since she had known Leaf had tried something similar before.

Her husband had taken the car and drove around the local area, hoping to find his daughter somewhere, preferably alive, conscious and not broken.

Leaf took a deep breath, and pulled the door handle. To her surprise, the door was unlocked (she didn't think that would work) and before she had even taken her dripping coat off, she was pulled into a tight embrace by her worry stricken mother, who started to ramble on about her extremely long breather.

"If you're ever upset about anything you know you can talk to me." She said once her speech had become less hysterical and more audible.

_Says the woman who didn't believe her own daughter,_ Leaf thought but refrained from saying. Instead, Leaf just said, "I know" and left it at that. The last thing she wanted was to make her mother guilty. All she wanted to do now was to take a shower then lie in bed, and fall asleep while reminiscing with her journal.

* * *

Leaf sat at her desk. Her mood was worse than yesterday's and when a certain brunet haired boy strolled into class, she became even more wary and nervous. Even though she had only had two brief encounters with him, she could tell already that he was not someone to be messed with.

Her heart rate rocketed when she saw a pair of hands slam onto her desk. The veins in the hands could be seen clearly, which added to her nervousness. She swallowed hard and looked up at the same pair of cyan eyes that she saw yesterday.

He leaned in. "You have a secret that I want to know." He purred in her ear. Leaf's breathing quickened her throat dry and incapable of speaking. Her eyes were locked with his. She found herself incapable of pulling her gaze away. Or do anything other than watch his taunting smile.

The class had silenced itself to watch the two brunets. Just about the whole class had concluded that what he was going to do next would be a whole lot worse than what he had intended to do yesterday but never got round to due to being out of class all day.

Erica rushed back into her classroom when she realised that all chatter had been dropped, a suspicious yet familiar occurrence. Last time she heard that happen wasn't that long ago but what happened next was something she wished she had the courage to stop before it escalated that far.

"Gary, the principal would like to see you in his office." Erica said all at once. She mentally cheered when the stutter didn't make an appearance in her command this time.

Gary shifted his gaze from Leaf's round, brown orbs to the woman who he considered petite. He lifted his arms off the desk and spun round.

Leaf let out a sigh of relief. Even though she was new here, she knew she was now off the hook.

Gary kept taking daunting steps forward and Erica shifted back uncomfortably. He put has arms on the wall around the teacher, blocking her path on both sides. "Does he really want to see me this time?" Gary asked in his threatening tone.

Erica nodded, trying not to look intimidated by her own student. "Yes." She said.

Gary let his arms drop and walked out of the room nonchalantly like how he did yesterday.

Leaf felt like she was still living in yesterday rather than a new day. A sense of déjà vu washed over her as she watched Gary's retreating form.

The bell shrilled, indicating the end of registration. The sounds of chairs scraping back filled the room as soon as the bell had stopped. Leaf waited for most of the students to go before she rose from her seat.

"Leaf." Erica called in her serene voice. "Can I have a quick word?"

Leaf nodded. She had been watching Erica, wondering if she was trying to help her by sending Gary away. She contemplated questioning her about it.

"The principal had a word with me about you having a mentor, you know, to talk to about any problems you've been having, in or out of school." Erica said.

She didn't reply for a moment. "You're my mentor?" Leaf asked, tilting her head to one side once Erica's words had sunk in.

The question surprised Erica. "Well, the school has a mentoring programme for students who need it. You'll be assigned a mentor. Someone who is hired just to talk to students enrolled in the programme." She explained, making sure to speak slowly as if that would make the programme more appealing than it really is.

"What if I don't want a mentor?" Leaf asked monotonously.

Erica tried to read the brunette's expression but drew a blank. The girl wasn't giving anything away. "Why not?" Erica asked, an expression of genuine concern graced her delicate features. "Your mum has already enrolled you in the programme."

_Something she failed to mention last night._ Leaf thought as she felt the small ember of anger from last night reignite itself. "What I should say is I don't just want anyone to be my mentor." Leaf said.

Erica gave her an understanding nod. "I'll be sure to let Principal Oak know that." She said then sent Leaf off to her class.

_I don't want just anyone to be my mentor; I want you to mentor me. You're the only one I feel I can trust here._

The words echoed in Erica's head. She knew what she had to do this time.

* * *

Okay, so that's this chapter done for now but I hope you liked it and, like always, please review it! I like to know what people think of the plot/ my writing/ and just general stuff.

Also, I have a task for people! Can someone help me think of a name for Leaf's mum? I think it'd be good if I could put a name to her character instead of always referring her as 'the older woman' or 'Leaf's mother'! Just submit names via reviews and I'll pick one that I think fits my description of her best. Thanks in advance!

Silver-hedgehog


	4. Chapter 3

One Step at a Time

So, this story is proving to be more popular than I thought which makes me super happy and when I'm happy, I update! But before I let you guys read, I'd like to say, thanks for all the name submissions for Leaf's mum. I had a good think over it and since she's meant to be pretty serious and conservative, I've decided that she'll roll by the name of Karen as submitted by Pesky Midnight. So thank you sooooooo much for the name submission and to everyone who gave suggestions! This chapter is dedicated to all you guys!

Just a quick note to say that _italics_ _= flashback or thoughts._

Chapter 3

Second day of school and Leaf still didn't feel like she belonged there. Even though she received no heckling from the other students today, she could hear them snicker and whisper about her when she walked on by. The looks that they gave her when she passed confirmed it all, and when her mother came to pick her up, she didn't ask her about her day, probably thinking that not being called in was promising; at least that's what Karen had convinced herself it meant.

The only form of hassle really was when Gary had taunted her. He knew she had a secret. How did he know? Did Olivia see more than she was welcome to when she viciously snatched her journal yesterday then told him? They were snickering about something when Leaf saw them together yesterday. Or did he sneak into the principal's office before she was called down and peek inside it since it looked out of place? There was a world of possibilities and however he found out made Leaf both curious and uneasy.

But that thought only occupied a small fraction of her brain. The thought that had grabbed the bulk of her attention was of the brown haired girl from the park yesterday. She seemed so nice at first then BOOM! She couldn't get away fast enough. Leaf had asked her mother to drop her off at the local park and Karen reluctantly followed her instruction to do so.

The park was not empty like it was yesterday. There were maybe five or six little children in the park with their doting parents. They played on the monkey bars and the slides, leaving the swings empty to sway on their lonesome.

Leaf didn't know why she had asked her mother to drop her off at the park. It's not like she enjoyed playing on the swings or anything like that. But somewhere deep down, maybe she just wanted to bump into that girl from yesterday again, maybe, just maybe her strange behaviour had picked at her interest. Surely she didn't act that way normally.

Leaf let the swing's cold seat come in contact with her, making certain that the cool seat was beneath her, she sat down cautiously, keeping an eye out for the brown haired girl. Her eyes kept cropping up in her mind. They were so vivid, so emotional when she spoke. They looked fragile even, something that Leaf felt they had in common, something she could relate to. It had been a while sonce Leaf had encountered someone she felt that way about.

Whilst Leaf's head was lost in thought, the swing next to hers became occupied.

"Hi there." Smiled a girl who took the swing next to Leaf's and made no effort to make the swing raise her up then down and so on. "Are you new around here?" she asked, focusing her attention on Leaf.

Leaf turned to face the girl blankly. Blue hair. That was a bit out of the norm though Leaf had to admit that she had a very warm vibe about her. Her smile was glowing, showing her pearly whites off brilliantly.

"Hello?" The girl waved a smooth, milky hand in front of Leaf's face.

Leaf shook her head. "Yes." Leaf answered, not saying more than necessary.

"And you go to Pallet Public School?" the blunette asked, tilting her head to one side, letting her blue fringe droop to one side.

Leaf shook her head. Who was this girl? She seemed nice and all but it made Leaf wonder did all people in this neighbourhood go about talking to people they don't know?

The blunette narrowed her eyes at Leaf. "Wait, so you go to the private school?" she asked and Leaf nodded, contemplating the girl's expression. "Ouch." the blunette said, "it's unusual for someone who goes to the private school to live in this part of Pallet Town."

Leaf found that odd. Why was it unusual? And why was 'ouch' her first comment? Was there some sort of feud between posh and non-posh? That seemed like a likely explanation, probably the most likely. The blunette looked like she had been brought up well: beautiful, albeit weirdly coloured locks that framed her small face; perfectly made up eyes that brought out the sharp blue; and the posh cotton of her baby blue sweater top and pink checker skirt outfit that made her seem posh but not completely out of place.

Leaf was about to ask her why it was unusual for her to be out of place by living in this neck of the woods, but the girl cut her off, taking Leaf's silence as an opportunity to slip in an introduction. "I'm Dawn Berlitz by the way."

Leaf nodded as she watched the girl swing back and forth. Leaf found it hard to introduce herself when the girl wouldn't sit still, or do anything close to sitting still for that matter. Leaf let a big huff of air escape her mouth and blow her hair out of her face as a sign that she gave up trying.

Xxxxxx

Leaf made sure to head home earlier before she set her mother off in some sort of panic again. It took her a lot of time to get a word in edge ways with the girl who had introduced herself as Dawn. Leaf had decided that she was a motor mouth, spoke quickly but not so much efficiently – whenever Leaf asked her a question, Dawn would start an anecdote of some sort and then at the end of it, maybe answer her question. Leaf did however manage to introduce herself.

Dinner was quiet tonight despite the presence of both her parents, and the silence didn't even feel natural. It was the type of silence that spelled secret and that made Leaf uncomfortable; it was like her parents were keeping something from her. Leaf brushed that thought out of her mind as she excused herself from the dinner table, her parents making no effort to stop her like how they would when she was younger.

Leaf shut the room door behind her and tried to lock it, only to realise that her new room didn't have a lock, probably a sign of her parent's paranoia that Leaf would try something life threatening. Leaf sat at her desk and opened her top desk drawer, pulling out her journal and opening at the page that seemed to open up naturally thanks to its over-creased spine. Leaf's fingertips brushed across the photo on the page delicately as she reminisced about what was.

"_Leaf, you don't know how much you mean to me."_

_Leaf giggled and blushed. "Of course I do!" she said back. "You've told me this like a million times before, even more frequently recently." She pointed out and let her head rest gently on his chest._

_He responded my wrapping an arm around Leaf's shoulders and resting his head on top of Leaf's head, inhaling the dampness that dominated her natural scent. They sat in the quiet of the room, the fire burning soundly in place and the carpet soft and caressing beneath their ice cold skin. The snow outside had started to mount up, forming a solid two inches in less than four hours._

"_I really mean it." He said in a low whisper. His hand dug about in his pocket, looking for something that he had saved up his money to buy. He pulled open a small velvet box and raised it to Leaf's drowsy eyes, and flicked it open to reveal a small, twisted gold band that embedded a small white gem in the middle. _

_Leaf's eyes widened when she saw it. It was old and she knew it, an antique. "This, it's your-"_

"_My great grandma's ring, I know." He finished for her. He had anticipated her reaction and so far, he right about everything. "I want you to have it."_

"_Really?" Leaf gasped. She had the box in her hands and the ring was out of its slot. "For real?"_

_He nodded. "For real, Leaf. It's just my way of saying how much you mean to me, now and always." He took the ring out of Leaf's hand and slipped it on her left ring finger the proceeded to plant a soft, sealing kiss on her soft lips._

"Leaf, Leaf honey."

Leaf woke up from the gentle shake she felt. She looked around her and saw her mother's face, yet another concerned expression. It was then Leaf realised that she had fallen asleep while reading her journal again.

Xxxxxx

Leaf strode into her half-filled registration class and took her seat. Erica was sitting at her desk while Gary was nowhere to be seen and if Leaf was lucky, which she was hoping she would be, things would stay that way. Or if he did show up to class, Leaf hoped that Erica would send him away again.

Registration class passed quickly, it didn't even feel like ten minutes! Leaf rose from her seat and headed towards the door. She tried to blend in amongst the leaving mass, hoping that if Gary was lurking nearby, he wouldn't spot her. She had a feeling that she knew what he'd go for if he had her cornered: her journal. But luckily, since the incident, Leaf has kept that locked away in her drawer that has only one key that sits safely round her neck.

Erica watched as the brunette navigated her way through the sea of students and tried to get her attention. She had news to tell the girl, though not what she knew Leaf wanted to hear. Erica stood at the door, her hand gripping the edge of the door frame as she watched the skinny, almost malnourished-looking, girl move further and further down the hall. Breaking the news to Leaf was going to have to wait, but what really mattered now was getting her first period class to settle down. She turned to do just that when she saw him strut coolly down the way that Leaf went. He gave her a cold look that sent shivers down her spine, one that she had seen before and that she wished she hadn't ignored.

Xxxxxx

Leaf had wondered her way successfully to her first period maths class. At least almost. She could see the room that she had for maths yesterday and the day before, and the teacher standing at the door as he welcomed his class in with his warm eye smile.

She wasn't exactly late but most of the students had cleared out of the halls already and a few teachers had already shut the door to start their lesson to the unenthusiastic souls that sat before them. She panicked as she heard the last of the doors shut and the sound of not only her own footsteps but an extra pair behind her. She could tell by the sound that the owner was a boy who what's to know things, things that he need not know about.

_Don't run, Leaf. That's a sure sign that you're scared._

Leaf tried to listen to her head. She didn't run but instead quickened her pace and walked straight past her class. The teacher had shut his door already and was probably unaware of the danger that Leaf was finding herself in. She sped walked straight through the maths department and into the art department and eventually out through the back door and into the stairwell that linked art to science.

Leaf tried to control her erratic breathing once she made it through the double doors. She stopped and leaned her back against the white stone walls and held a hand up to her painfully hard thumping chest, trying to sooth it. She knew that she didn't have much time though. At any moment, she was going to have to find another place to hide. At any moment, she was going to hear the swing of the doors open and feel those stone cold blue eyes watch her squirm.

And then she heard it, her cue. She peeled herself off the wall and half ran, half walked up the stairs and could've started to cry when she saw that the next set of doors was shut. Opening them would inevitably give him enough time to catch up to her and do bad things to her. She had one hand on the door.

So close. If she hadn't stopped to calm herself down. Maybe she would've missed the sharp tug round her wrist that made her arm pop from its socket and the flashing, multi-coloured spots she saw before she blacked out.

Xxxxxx

And it all goes downhill from here for our beloved Leafy. I hope you guys liked this chapter. I made Dawn appear in this chapter so now there's only Misty and the boys to bring in. I know exactly how but it's going to take a few more chapters before everyone has made an appearance at least once. Just thought I'd clear that up, though no one was confused about it to begin with.

Anyway, like always, reviews are much appreciated!

Silver-hedgehog


	5. Chapter 4

Okay, so this was just a wee update for all you people out there since I'm going to stop myself from writing for like the next month because of all my essays and whatnot.

Chapter 4

Her eyes flickered open only briefly. The lights were too bright and cause a splitting pain deep inside her head.

Karen couldn't get up from her seat fast enough when she saw her daughter move. She had been sitting by her bedside for almost the whole time that Leaf was out cold, waiting desperately for her daughter to come to.

"Leafy, Leafy dear…" Karen's voice was barely a whisper but it was more than enough to show her concern for the drowsy teen. She helped Leaf sit up, careful not to hurt her arm.

Leaf was confused. She had no idea where she was or what had happened. Why did her head feel like there was someone inside it trying to kick it outwards? Why was she lying in a room that was so nauseatingly clinical? And most importantly, why was her key not resting in its safe spot round her neck?

"Oh, Leaf, your father and I were extremely worried when we got a call at work from your school…" Karen trailed off, not wanting to say that the school has called her regarding her unconscious daughter who failed to turn up to class.

"Where's my key?" Leaf croaked. It wasn't until she spoke that she realised how dry her throat had become, an indicator to Leaf that she had been out cold for at least six hours, maybe more.

"What key?" Her mother asked.

"The little one that opens my drawer, in my room." Leaf answered frantically. The thought that the key that she valued more than her own house keys was missing was scary. If she really did lose her key, there would be no way in to her drawer that held her journal.

Her mother gave it some thought then replied. "I'm sure I saw you wearing it this morning when I dropped you off at school..."

Leaf tuned out when her mother started to go on about occasions that she had seen Leaf where it as a pendant. She couldn't help but wonder if Gary had anything to do with its sudden disappearance…

Xxxxxx

Leaf's dad had followed Karen's instructions to take Leaf's bag up to her room for her while the she and Leaf sat in the kitchen with some hot tea. The warmth was comforting though nothing could remove the chilling fact that Leaf's key could be in Gary's possession and he could probably find out where she lives… The latter seemed a little bit farfetched, even Leaf thought so as soon as the thought entered her head but he did manage to find out that she had a secret somehow, so why not?

"So tomorrow you can have a nice lie in and we'll talk about returning to school the day after, if you're up for it." Karen said once Leaf had left her thoughts behind to listen to her mother, who looked like she was approaching the end of her speech.

"I want to go to school tomorrow." Leaf declared, surprising her mother in the process. "I feel fine."

"You feel fine now but that might not be the case tomorrow." Karen said knowingly as she put a gentle hand on her daughter's non-dislocated shoulder (Leaf flinched when the news that her shoulder had been dislocated was broken to her).

"No, if I feel fine now, chances are, I'll feel better tomorrow." Leaf retorted.

Karen stopped drinking her tea midway and stared at her daughter. The adamant tone she used reminded her of how the young brunette used to be; decisive, adamant and most of the time, annoyingly a know-all. Curse her daughter for inheriting all the intellectual genes in the family.

Leaf took her mother's silence as a sign that she was right. "Then it's decided. I'll go to school tomorrow."

Karen sat there, speechless. Was it possible that the bump to Leaf's head fixed her?

Xxxxx

Leaf had slept in the next day. Her mother had come into her room later last night to talk about returning to school so quickly but Leaf stood by her decision and after a lengthy discussion between the two stubborn family members, it was decided that Leaf would return to school for the afternoon. If it wasn't for the key, Leaf would've continued to feign soreness until her mother or father realised that she was fine. At least as fine as she'd get.

With her blazer half worn, half draped over her dislocated shoulder, which was now cradled in a sling, Leaf walked into the building and signed into school then proceeded to walk to class. The halls were quiet with classes in session and most if not all the doors shut. Leaf took this quietness as an opportunity to retrace her steps from the day of her accident. Even though she knew that it would be unlikely for her key to be at the back stairwell, she had to check anyway so that she could rule out any possibilities, or rather, let the clues tell her that her guess is correct.

Leaf frowned when she couldn't find it and headed to class bracing herself for the stares and murmurs just before she knocked and opened the door.

Leaf gave her teacher an apologetic bow then turned to take her seat, scanning the class as she did so. She spotted Gary at the back of the class, sitting nonchalantly on his seat with his feet resting on his desk. He gave her a smug look when their eyes met.

Leaf shuddered, sat down and unpacked her bag as the teacher continued with his lecture that would normally interest Leaf if her mind wasn't already occupied with another matter. She thought about pulling Gary up about stealing her key after class but then what good would that do her? It was unlikely that he would hand it over just like that. If anything, that would make him even more interested in the object in question. On the other hand, if Leaf played it cool about the key, maybe he'd decide that it's useless and return it. Somehow that outcome seemed unlikely too.

But did Gary really have the key? Leaf looked over her shoulder several times during class, trying to see the boy in question, as if looking at him would help her decide whether if he was guilty of stealing or not.

"Okay class, I want you to do questions one to twelve. Anything you don't finish you will do as homework." The teacher said as he sat down into his seat from the front of the class and pulled out a stack of papers that needed grading.

As soon as he made the announcement, chatter had started to rise and some students started to get up from their seats and wonder off to their friends across the room and the teacher didn't care – or he didn't notice.

Leaf decided against talking to Gary about it, at least in front of so many people. If the teacher was anything as spineless as the maths teacher, Leaf could end up with several more injuries.

Leaf put her head down and started to work on the questions. Reducing her workload tonight would probably do her some good. Leaf felt a nudge at her table that caused her pen to drag across the page and looked up just in time to see a devious smirk on the face of a certain brunet as he passed her desk and walked straight out of class. Leaf gave the teacher a glance. Shouldn't he do something about the student that just walked straight out of his class without permission?

Ignoring the disciplinary thought, Leaf followed Gary out of the class and down the hall back to the stairwell where she last saw him at school. The doors were shut but swinging, a sign that they had just been used.

Leaf pulled them towards her, hoping the doors would make no sound when she opened them. Leaf tried to walk silently on the hard blue floors of the back stairwell. She could hear Gary's voice coming from below her.

"Can't stand being in there." Leaf could hear Gary say.

"I know. I just walked out of class while that Blaine was still lecturing us." Said a second voice.

Who Gary was talking to was a mystery to Leaf but hopefully not for long. She silently walked over to the banister and peered over. Directly below where she stood was Gary with a peculiar looking green haired boy. They both had what looked to be a cigarette clasped between their fingers.

The green haired boy took a drag from his then let the smoke drift out from between his lips. The boys had jammed the fire exit open to help the smoke disperse faster.

"So I'll be expecting you in-" Gary stopped he was saying to his friend when he saw her Brunette locks hanging.

Leaf knew she was caught. But for some odd reason, she didn't run away. She stared back at Gary. The green haired boy stared at Leaf too.

"What are you doing there?" Gary shouted up. Despite it being a question, Gary said it like a statement, a threatening one.

Leaf contemplated running away and pretend that she never saw him.

"I want to know why you took it." Leaf said, trying to sound confident and firm when she spoke.

"So the girl can speak." Gary said, clearly taking the situation as one of humour. It was his first time hearing Leaf speak and he was surprised by the way she spoke; it didn't match the defenceless image that he had built up of her.

Whenever he spoke to Leaf, she always felt threatened. She wanted to back down but if she wanted to know the whereabouts of her key, she knew that backing down would equate to giving it up. "You never answered me." Leaf shouted down.

"Can't exactly tell you without knowing what I supposedly took?" Gary said then took another drag of his cigarette.

"You know what you took." Leaf fired back.

"Something that's to do with your secret. Interesting." Gary said calmly. He had a hint of a smirk at the corner of his lips, waiting to spread onto the rest of his face at any moment. "Maybe I'll tell you if you tell me your secret?"

Leaf's mouth fell open at the sound of his proposal. She was right! He does have her key, or at least know the whereabouts of it.

"You know my secret so you may as well tell me yours."

Leaf backed away from the banisters. She can't tell him something so personal. He's a boy and one that as far as she can tell, hates her and wants to make her life hell. There was no way on Earth she would tell him anything!

Gary and his companion had climbed the stairs while Leaf was in her thoughts. The green hair boy had blocked off the door while Gary stood dauntingly in front of Leaf, his gaze on her intense and dark.

"You know my secret." Gary said in low growl, "no one else knows about it. If we get caught, we'll know who to come to."

Leaf tried not to look intimidated by his stare like the other times that he invaded her personal space but she nodded as bravely as she could and hoped that he'd back away.

"Good." Gary smiled maliciously. "But you still haven't told me what your secret is."

Leaf could smell the cigarette fumes that clung onto him. She never noticed the smell before when he came up so close to her. "I have no secret to disclose." Leaf said.

"Keep telling yourself that." Gary said as he walked past her towards his friend and the door, nudging her injured shoulder on the way.

xxxxx

Leaf packed her chemistry books into her bag closed it. The teacher didn't seem to notice her absence from his class, or if he did, he made no effort in disciplining her about it. Leaf scurried out of the class and contemplated which way to go. She didn't particularly fancy going up the stairwell that she had missed half of class for and the alternative routes was longer. After considering her limited options, Leaf concluded that it wouldn't matter if she was late or not because one, she didn't care about school anymore and two, she had Erica, the only seemingly nice teacher who would probably let her off for murder. Especially if it was the murder of Gary, who as far as Leaf could tell, Erica didn't like.

Leaf followed slowly behind the sea of students that had filled the halls. Most had stop to linger round their friend's lockers and swap gossip on who had the newest and outrageously expensive gadgets or trendiest designer shoes or who was the latest person to be hospitalised by a certain boy.

Leaf tried not to listen to the pointless gossip or take notice of the sideward glances and continued forward, making sure to keep her bad arm away from the careless students. It was hard since she had chosen not to take the quiet stairwell but the busy main stairs up.

Leaf had managed to get to class without hurting herself further. The majority of the class had settled down already and as Leaf's eyes made it to the back of the class, she noticed that a certain brunet haired boy was also there.

Leaf approached a desk at the front, distancing herself from the rest of the students who primarily preferred to sit at the back. She pulled out her biology textbook and prepared herself for class.

"Leaf, can I have a word with you at the end of class?" Leaf heard someone say to her. She looked up from her desk and saw Erica standing at her desk and nodded.

"Great." Erica said then proceeded to start the lesson.

Leaf watched Erica intently as she spoke to the class about different genera of plants. What did Erica have to say to her?

From the back of the class, Gary wondered the exact same thing.

Xxxxxx

So, what does Erica want to say to Leaf? And Gary smokes… Yeah, that's just a casual habit of his :P but I'm going to expand on that in later chapters so let's bare that in mind. Also, going to bring the rest of the cast in later so be patient people! Patience is a virtue… Or so I'm told.

Anyway, review people and make me happy to be writing!


	6. Chapter 5

Sooo, hi again, just thought I'd do a pre-Christmas update of this story. It's a bit longer than the other chapters but I don't think you bubs will mind, will you?

Just a wee note before you read:

_Italics = flashbacks/ notes/ journal entries or similar._

Chapter 5

_She sat politely in his office, her hands on her laps as she waited for the Principal's verdict on her idea. Principal Oak didn't exactly like the idea that she had proposed but he felt compelled to let her have it her way for he had never seen Erica look so worked up about something. He had always imagined her to be the more submissive type as reflected by her quiet and generally shy behaviour in the staff room and back then._

"_I just don't understand why you are so adamant about being Leaf Green's mentor. You've never been interested in taking on board any of our other students before." The principal said._

_Erica lifted her head to look at the professor. There was a lot of things she could say to him, a lot of reasons she could give him, but the main reason, she was not prepared to tell. "I've had a look at her records and observed her behaviour. She's an amazing student. At one point of her life she had straight As, did lots of extracurricular activities and charity work and she competed in sports competitions at international levels." _

"_Yes, but you said it yourself. 'At one point in her life', meaning not anymore." The principal said. He was about to dismiss her when she continued to speak._

"_But maybe she just needs the right guidance. I think I can help her." Erica said. She had a passionate flame burning in her usually serene eyes._

_The principal sighed. "But you're not qualified to do that." _

"_Not fully yet, I know but," Erica rose from her seat and placed her hands on the table silently and leaned forward on them, casting her shadow over her boss. "She said to me that she wants me to be her mentor."_

_The Professor Oak was caught off guard by what Leaf Green had apparently said to her. Did she really say that? From all the times that he had spoken to the girl in question he had struggled to get a comment that sounded remotely opinionated out of her. "Really now?" he said in disbelief._

_Erica nodded. "If she thinks I can help her then I think I can too." _

_The principal sighed again. He seemed to have done that a lot throughout the unplanned discussion, Erica noticed it too but chose to ignored it. "One term." The principal said. He was prepared to make a compromise. "If she makes progress in one the space of this term then you can continue to be her mentor. But if she regresses, there will be consequences."_

_Erica smiled and nodded. That was good enough. All she had to do was make progress. From what she gathered, the amount made didn't matter._

xxxxxx

Leaf finished writing the last of her notes and then set down her pen in satisfaction once she was done. She couldn't remember the last time she had worked so hard on any piece of work. The work that Erica had assigned the class to do this period proved to be a good distraction from thinking about her key, or maybe it was the vileplme oil that Erica had placed round the class that caused her mind to relax a bit. Whatever it was, Leaf had never felt s at ease in Erica's class before.

The bell rang seconds after Leaf was done with her work and every student promptly stated to pack up and flee through the open door. Leaf packed her things slowly; remembering that Erica said she wanted to talk, what about though, Leaf had no clue.

Erica waited until all the students had left the class before she spoke to Leaf who was still sitting in her seat at the front of the class. Erica moved from behind her desk and sat on the edge of Leaf's desk.

"Leaf, I've spoken to the Professor Oak about your mentor issue and he's agreed to let me be your mentor."

Leaf was expressionless at the news. She couldn't decide if it was good or… anticlimactic. "What do you do as my mentor?"

"We meet once a week after school and we talk about anything that's bothering you or that you concerned about. And I promise to treat what you tell me with absolute confidence. No third party would need to know what we talk about." Erica explained. "And if you have problems during the week you can come talk to me whenever."

Leaf listened and she had to admit that sounded pretty good. But not as good as her journal…

"So what do you say?" Erica asked when Leaf didn't say anything in response. "Do you still want me to be your mentor?"

Leaf looked at Erica. "Sure." She replied unenthusiastically then rose from her seat. She slung her bag over her good shoulder and started towards the door.

"One more thing Leaf." Erica said, causing Leaf to halt before she reached the door. "I believe this is yours." She dangled a thin chain with a shiny silver key.

Leaf's eyes grew wide with recognition. She snatched the key back right away and inspected it closely for nothing in particular. The key was a one of a kind as was her drawers. It was unlikely that the key she clutched tightly in her hand was a fraud.

"You dropped it the other day when you were leaving registration. I wanted to give it to you then along with the news of me being assigned as your mentor but you left so quickly and I had a class to teach that period. Then you got injured and I couldn't give it to you this morning since you weren't in."

"Thanks." Leaf said quietly but full of gratitude. She really couldn't express how much she meant it. "I really, really mean it."

Erica smiled, "You're welcome. And remember, you can tell me anything."

Leaf nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Meanwhile outside the classroom with his back up against the wall and a Cheshire cat grin smeared across his face, Gary couldn't wait to hear the outpour of information that was going to inevitably follow in weeks to come. Starting with that key.

Xxxxxx

Leaf's day went admittedly better than she had imagined. She had been anticipating some sort of assault from her peers and some strong refusal of the return of her key from _that_ brown haired boy.

Karen seemed to cheer up too once she saw that her daughter seemed so much more settled after school and when she suggested they go get ice cream and Leaf didn't turn the idea away, she knew something good had happened.

"There's an ice cream van over there." Karen said to her daughter.

Leaf looked over and accepted her mother's offer of ice cream with a polite nod.

Karen bought herself and Leaf a soft ice cream each and took a seat on the little bench just outside the play park entrance. Conversation between the two was non-existent but they enjoyed each other's company nonetheless. Leaf couldn't remember a time when she got to sit down and enjoy an ice cream with her mother like that. Ever since she was little, Leaf was always left with her neighbours or a nanny when her mother worked most days. The feeling of nostalgia was comforting as Leaf thought back to those few treasured times she had ice cream with her mum when was seven, or maybe even younger.

"Shall we head home?" Karen asked.

Leaf shook her head. "I want to go for a walk."

After Karen set a firm curfew and bid her daughter goodbye, Leaf ventured of in the general direction of the park. Now that the issue of her lost key was solved, the thought of the brunette came back to her. Why did she act so strange?

Leaf took a seat on the swing. It was starting to become a habit to sit there when she was idly wondering the town. The past two times that Leaf sat there, she was approached by people who wanted to befriend her. Maybe not the first girl but the perky blunette definitely wanted to be her friend. Before Leaf left, she shoved a note with her name, address and number on it and insisted that they called each other to hang out sometime. If Leaf didn't know any better, she would've thought the blunette was trying to make a play for her.

"Hiya."

Leaf looked to her side and saw her blue mane, an odd characteristic that had to undoubtedly be Dawn's. Leaf smiled at her in response.

"Oooft." Dawn breathed as she eyed Leaf's arm that rested in its sling. "So the rumours are true."

"Rumours? What rumours?" Leaf asked with curiosity. At that moment, Leaf felt even more like everyone and everything in town were keeping some sort of secret from her.

"Don't you know?" Dawn asked. "Every newbie at your school gets bullied until they leave. I heard the last person that happened to ended up with seven broken ribs and a fractured patella, whatever that means."

Leaf stared at the blunette with wide eyes. "Broken ribs and knee cap?" Leaf gasped in horror.

"Is that what the patella is?" Dawn asked and Leaf nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Ouch. Now that I know what it is I can really sympathise for that poor soul. Heard they were going to be the next big dancer as well. One 'accident' and that's that career down the drain. Looks like you got luck with your broken arm."

"Actually, it's just dislocated." Leaf said, pointing to her shoulder.

"Did they do that to you?" Dawn asked in a way that made Leaf suspect that Dawn's one of those serial gossipers.

Leaf stayed quiet but nodded her head.

Dawn looked at Leaf horrified. "You should probably do something about it. Maybe get a transfer to my school, Pallet Academy?" Dawn hinted and Leaf started to think.

Should she?

Xxxxxx

Leaf made sure to get to school bright and early today, avoiding the busy crowd of gossipers and havoc causers that she passed cautiously in the morning on the way to class. Of course though, there was an ulterior motive to Leaf's early arrival.

After listening to what Dawn had said about the last student, Leaf wondered if she could find out anything about that from Erica. Dawn didn't seem to know much more about it other than the last student being bullied until he or she couldn't bare it anymore and left while the rest if their bones were somewhat still intact and organs still in place. If Leaf was going to broach the subject of transferring school with her parents, she'd have to have some pretty solid reasons as to why she wants to – and should – leave since her dislocated shoulder was not a good enough reason. She wondered what the school said to her parents while she was out cold to convince them that it wasn't the school's fault but her own…

Leaf stalked the halls cautiously despite them being empty of people and ran into her registration class. The door was open but no one was there, a sure sign Erica was already in the school somewhere. Leaf took her seat and wondered what she should do next. Erica not being in the room was not part of the mental plan that Leaf had made.

Trying to make good use of her time, Leaf pulled out a textbook and started to study for her first period class.

Erica returned moments later, humming melodically with a jug of water in her hands. She paused when she saw Leaf sitting in her seat more than half an hour before she was due to come to registration.

"Morning Leaf." Erica greeted with a smile. She walked over to the window sill and started to water her flowers that lit up the monotonous classroom with its vibrant array of colours. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not particularly." Leaf said as she shut her textbook.

"I didn't expect to see anyone in my class so early." Erica picked up her plant pot and started to inspect it. She spent every morning of the school day giving her attention to her beloved plants. "You know, you can tell me what happened."

Leaf took a moment to realise that Erica was referring to her arm. Spending a good minute or so to contemplate whether it really was safe or not to tell Erica, Leaf came to her conclusion. "I'm not really sure what happened." She wasn't lying completely; she remembered being followed, then running towards the closed door, then… the she wasn't entirely sure if she imagined Gary doing something or if she caused it herself.

Erica nodded and set the empty jug on the window sill next to her flowers. "I see." She said, her voice giving nothing away about whether she believed Leaf or not. "Leaf, I have a question for you, as mentor to mentee. You like studying, don't you?"

Leaf tilted her head to one side. What kind of question was that? If Erica was referring to the textbook Leaf was reading when she entered the room then that was a bit of a quick conclusion to jump to.

"I have to admit, I had a look at your old school record. You had a lot of impressive things that could easily win over prospective employers and university examiners." Erica said, "Two years ago you won the dux two years running and you competed in gymnastics at an international level. You interned at an elite journalism company and your academic achievements were recognised by several of the top universities."

"Interning wasn't something I did by choice and the studying was forced." Leaf said, trying to keep her tone steady. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable talking about this with a woman she barely knew let alone trust with personal things about herself.

"You remind me a lot of me." Erica said, changing the subject suddenly.

"How so?" Leaf asked.

"You don't like discussing yourself with other people. I could sense you getting defensive. If I pushed you anymore you would've just left."

Leaf thought about Erica's reply. It's true. If Erica did continue to fire things that Leaf had forgotten about herself then she would have left the room with such a rage that would take days to cool off.

"When I was your age I went through a rough patch too and that really affected my grades and I stopped letting people into my space. I just didn't think anyone would understand me. A part of me wanted someone to talk to about it but another part of me didn't want to burden people with things that they wouldn't understand. I wanted someone to support me, not sympathise for me. I can tell you're going through something similar." Erica said.

There was no deny that that's what Leaf was feeling like ever since the day that she found out her boyfriend was hospitalised from the car accident. There were so many times that she wanted to talk to someone about it but she didn't know who to turn to. Ever since Leaf was a young child, Leaf only ever told her problems to one person.

"Anyway, my point is, I'm here if you do want to tell me anything." Erica added when she received no reply from the brunette.

Leaf nodded. "Thanks." She said softly as she took her seat. Leaf had kept a close eye on the time throughout the conversation. Even if she did want to say something to Erica, now was not the time. Students were due to start pouring in at any second. "Actually, Erica, can we talk after school?"

Erica smiled warmly at the brunette. "Of course."

Xxxxxx

Leaf had realised she had failed at her ulterior motive when talking to Erica earlier on just not at the time but maybe it wasn't too late to try now? Better late than never, as the old saying goes. Or maybe she should just come out with what she really wanted to say this morning and drop her motive?

_My fiancé died._

Was that too blunt? Just coming out with it like that? Maybe. Leaf wasn't even sure if she'd have the strength and courage to tell Erica something so personal like that, as much as she wanted to. After what Erica had said to her, Leaf felt herself connect to the older woman on a whole new level. What she was conviced she would never say to her yesterday she just wanted to scream it at her today.

_When I was your age I went through a rough patch too…_

That same part of the sentence had been playing through Leaf's head for the whole day, disrupting her from concentrating in classes. Leaf was curious as to what Erica had gone through. Was what Erica went through even as bad as what Leaf went through? Did she lose her fiancé in a car accident too? That would be a freaky coincidence.

The time seemed to pass so slowly – any slower and it would be at a standstill. Leaf hurried out from her last period English class. The teacher wasn't particularly nice and she actually wanted to talk to Erica now while she felt like she had the courage to.

Leaf waited outside Erica's class as she watched the last of the students to empty out and once they had all gone, Leaf slipped into the classroom, looking around her to make sure no one was watching first.

"Leaf, you made it." Erica greeted.

Leaf nodded and sat down at her seat. Suddenly going for it and just saying everything didn't feel so easy after all.

"Would you like some water?" Erica offered as she poured herself a glass.

Leaf shook her head. "No thanks." She said.

Erica nodded and then moved into the empty seat next to hers. "You didn't encounter any trouble today, did you?"

Leaf shook her head. "No, everyone has been really quiet today."

"Did Gary Oak try anything?" Erica asked.

Leaf shuddered at his name. She hadn't seen him all day up until last period when she felt his gaze send cold shivers down her back. She didn't need to see him to feel how daunting they were. And the fact that Leaf still has not recovered from them just reiterates how scary it really is.

"No, but I've got a question about him." Leaf said. "Did you purposefully send him away on my first day?"

"Yes." Erica answered.

"And the second day?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The girls looked at each other and shared a chuckle.

"I don't understand why he picks on me." Leaf said. It was one of many things she wanted to get off her chest.

"It's partly a rich people thing. I don't get and I don't like it but it's not fair." Erica said.

Leaf thought about that. "Were you bullied too when you were younger?" the words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them and to her surprise, she got a reply.

"Yes." Erica said. "I was."

"I can tell. You're the only teacher who looks after me." Leaf said at last. Telling someone about her discontent with the other teachers was something she was glad she was able to share with someone.

"You know, all the teachers that work here all studied here at one point." Erica said.

Leaf was surprised by that fact. Did that mean all the teachers were stuck up and uncaring? "Seriously?" Leaf asked but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. For the whole of her English lesson, she did feel like her teacher was trying to belittle her more than the rest of the class. Was it because she was new or did he think she wasn't good enough to come to Pallet High?

They sat in silence for a while before Leaf spoke again. "Did you do something to the room? It smells different from all the other classes. I noticed it yesterday. Smells like... Vileplume?" Leaf said. Silences like that often made Leaf feel awkward.

"I did, it's the Bellossom plants." Erica said, signalling to the plants on her window sill. "It's supposed to make people feel calmer though I don't think it's working."

"It is… I feel more at ease in your class unless..." Leaf said, missing out the end of the sentence that she wanted to add on

"Unless Gary's here?" Erica said guessed. "I know that's what you mean. You don't need to hold back." Leaf could feel her lips ease up into a slight smile. It nice to be able to be honest about something for a change and to someone else who understands! Erica noticed Leaf's reaction. She probably wasn't going to be able to get much more out of her today but getting the girl to admit something – as obvious as it was – was a good start to their mentoring sessions. "Shall we call it a day?" Erica asked.

"My fiancé died." Leaf said without thinking. Her eyes grew wide and her hand slapped over her mouth as soon as she said it.

No. No. NO.

"What?" Erica said, surprised by the teens sudden outburst. She was just as surprised as the girl herself. She wasn't even sure if Leaf actually said what she heard or if it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but seeing the girl's expression, the latter seemed unlikely.

"I… I…" Leaf stammered. The brunette immediately scraped her chair back and grabbed her bag and ran out the door.

Erica watched as the girl fled the class. She definitely said what she thought.

Leaf stopped dead in her track as soon as she made it out of the class. Some people show up at the wrong places at the wrong time. The sight of him scared her. She could see his retreating form down the hall and judging by the smug way he strode down the hall, he heard it. He heard it all.

Every. Single. Word.

Xxxxxxx

So Leaf thinks Gary heard her discussion with Erica and more importantly, her outburst right at the end. I know Leaf's all out of control and stuff but I think it's about time we started to make things hard for a protagonist!

But anyway, I hope you bubbis liked this chapter, sorry for the lack of Gary but I kinda need to give him something to work with, hence this chapter. Hopefully we'll have more of him this chapter. I'll be writing the next chapter of this after the 14th of December so it's unlikely I'll be updating before then (which is probably why I unconsciously made this chapter longer). But who knows, I might get bored from studying and update it before then!

Before you leave this page, fancy dropping me a wee review? I fancy that idea quite a bit…

But yeah, see – I mean talk to you in my author's notes – in hopefully less than two weeks!

silver-hedgehog


	7. Chapter 6

One Step at a Time

_Italics = texts / notes / announcements etc._

Chapter 6

When things started to look up again, Leaf knew that would not last. Since she finished her short meeting with Erica, she saw the figure that haunted her thoughts nowadays: a six foot, demonic-looking tormentor. The thought of him alone made Leaf shudder.

Leaf drew her duvet tighter round her curled up body, covering all of her except her worry frozen face. Leaf had been lying in her bed ever since she got home, not leaving her room for dinner or anything. Leaf heard a small buzz from her phone sitting on her bedside table and stretched across for it. There was no question as to who the text was from. Only one other person other than Leaf's parents had her number and that was Dawn, the only girl who has bothered to give her the time of day.

Leaf's eyes squinted as she tried to read her brightly lit phone screen in the darkness of her bedroom.

_Where were you today? Xxxxxx_

Leaf blinked a couple of times to allow her eyes to readjust. Why she ever chose to put the light setting on so bright was beyond her.

_At home. _

Leaf replied then sent it off and before she knew it, her phone buzzed again with what would be considered as an essay in text form.

_Well, that's just mean! I all excited expecting to see you in the park today, I even bought my friend from school to meet you and I was telling her how nice you were, albeit quiet, and all that and then what do you go and do? YOU LEAVE ME HANGING! Not cool! Oh, and no kisses? That's just rude! Xxxxxxxxxx_

Leaf made a mental note: don't mess with Dawn, she will get all maternal on you. With the thought stored away, Leaf pressed the reply button on her phone. She had barely keyed a single letter when she received another text.

_We're still at the park if you want to come along __ xxxxxxx_

Leaf read Dawn's reply then sent one back.

_Don't feel like going out. Xx_

Leaf looked at her text then sent it. Surely two kisses at the end of her text was enough to satisfy her motherly friend, even if the reply itself did not. Leaf put her phone down on her bed then put her head down to rest on her uninjured arm. The last thing she wanted was to see people and tell them about her personal problems and then be buried up to her nose with sympathy.

Leaf's phone lit up again with a new text.

_Ok, then we'll come to you xxxxxx_

Leaf had to read the text twice. Did Dawn even know where she lived? No. Leaf remembered Dawn giving Leaf her address but Leaf never gave out any of her personal details to her except her phone number and her name after relentless nagging so there was no way that Dawn could just appear on her doorstep like that.

But several minutes later the doorbell rang. Leaf's head shot up as she tried to listen out for her mother answering the door. Did it sound like she was talking to a teenage girl?

"Ah, I see, so you're my dear Leafy's friends!" Leaf could hear Karen say enthusiastically but also surprised. "Come in girls!"

_Girls? _Leaf thought. As far as she was concerned, she only had one friend in Pallet Town and that was Dawn so why did her mum say girl_**s**_? Did Dawn bring a friend over or something?

Leaf listened carefully as the sound of her mother's voice, Dawn's voice and a third unidentified voice become more and more vivid as they grew closer and closer to her door. With a gentle knock on the door, her mother popped her head in and beamed at her.

"Leafy, you've got visitors." She said then opened the door when she realised that Leaf was not going to signal them into the room or away. Karen stepped in to the room and to one side to allow the two teenage girls in.

"Hi Leaf!" Dawn greeted followed by an over enthusiastic wave.

Leaf smiled at Dawn then eyed the girl behind her. Her hair contrasted greatly against Dawn's locks, her eyes were a really bright but interpretable shade of green and she was noticeably taller than Dawn by maybe a good three or four inches.

"I'll leave you girls. If you need anything I'll be downstairs."

"Thank you." Said Dawn and the other girl as Karen shut the door behind her, giving Leaf a proud smile before the door shut fully and she left.

Dawn turned to Leaf and smiled brightly as Leaf remained frozen and wrapped up in her duvet like a cocoon. The other girl stood awkwardly as she waited for someone to say or do something. She had her arms folded across her chest and her weight was predominantly on one of her feet.

"How did you get here?" Leaf asked as she sat up, peeling some of the blanket off of her head and body. She could feel a slight draft in her room.

"We walked." Dawn answered, missing what Leaf was _really_ asking. Was she always this… this oblivious?

"I meant how did you know where I live?" Leaf asked, rephrasing her question.

"Oh, I saw you move in like a few days ago." Dawn said casually as she approached the bed and sat down cross legged.

Leaf nodded. "Why are you here?" she asked bluntly.

"I just thought we should hang out more, silly, friends don't need a reason to pop up out of the blue." Dawn replied and tapped Leaf's nose. "Nice room by the way." Dawn said as she looked at the furniture, from the mahogany double bed to the matching antique, one-of-a-kind mahogany desk.

"Thanks… Who's your friends?" Leaf asked.

And suddenly Dawn jumps up and goes to stand by her friend. "This is my friend Misty, Misty, meet Leaf, the poor unfortunate soul I told you all about."

Leaf was slightly taken aback by her introduction even though it was spot on. "Poor unfortunate soul" was the only adequate way to describe her.

"Hey." Misty greeted with a stiff wave, "Heard you go to Pallet High."

Leaf nodded and dug her body out from under her duvet and made room for Misty to take a seat. "Yeah." Leaf replied depreciatively.

"Misty went to Pallet High too." Dawn said. "But things didn't go all that well."

"How so?" Leaf asked. She was curious about what Dawn just revealed. Was this the girl that Dawn had mentioned on the day they met, the girl who had the shattered Patella?

"It was about a year ago." Misty started. "I started there along with this other girl called May. She was lovely, she was smart, out-going, pretty much your average teenage girl. But it didn't take us long to notice the behaviour of the people round the school. They were all so stuck up and they would whisper behind our back. They made it obvious that we were the outcasts of the school, the victims of assault when the students were bored."

Leaf could relate to the story so far. She had been made to feel like the outcast since day one. And only today did she know that there was one other person who was different.

"Since May and I were established outcasts, the bullying started within our first week of being there and after our first week, it was clear that it had gotten to May mentally. By the end of the first week she had several bruises all over her arms and legs and after about a month of being there it had gotten worse. May had several more bruises that she tried to hide, burn marks that she'd claim were accidents and bandages that she said were caused by a fall. She wouldn't tell me the truth though."

Leaf listened closely. It didn't sound like this May girl had it as bad as her but she could empathise with that girl. She knew exactly what she went through. "How did you know she was lying?"

"On our first day there when we sat down for lunch together, a group of guys came over and they were telling us how 'fun' things were going to be all snide like. I retorted by telling them to back off but May didn't. Since that first encounter I had seen that green haired boy nearby May but I'd never see him do anything to her It's always after I see them near each other that she'd have all these scratches and bruises so I pulled him up for it one day and he accused me of accusing him of bullying May and hitting him so I got expelled for it."

"And this was a month into school?" Leaf asked. The thought of getting herself expelled was starting to look like the perfect solution to her problem.

Misty nodded. "After only a month." She confirmed. "But then I started at Pallet Academy and met Dawn."

"What happened to May?" Leaf asked, she felt herself being drawn to this May character in the story. If only she could find this girl and let her know that she's not the only one who's being abused by students and ignored by teachers.

"She came to Pallet Academy too about two months after I moved there but she wouldn't say anything. She was in a wheelchair when she first started." Misty replied.

Leaf figured May must've been the girl with the shattered patella from Dawn's story.

"I tried to talk to her on her first day but she wouldn't talk to me. Not even when I'd asked her a question." Misty continued. "I've tried several times since then but it's been the same every time. I'm the one doing all the talking and she'll just listen and not respond."

"I tried to partner up with her on a lab assignment one time and even then she didn't say anything. She just did the work."

Leaf was really curious about this May. She seemed so relatable. By hearing the stories, Leaf felt like she was hearing her future too. She wanted to talk to the girl in person, maybe she was the key to convincing her parents to let her move school without having to ruin her almost perfect behavioural record.

Xxxxxx

Leaf could feel her legs shake as she approached the door to her class. Even the aroma of the Bellossom plants that had wafted out of the classroom and into the hall couldn't keep her calm. Leaf took a deep breath and was prepared to go into class when she felt a hand settle on her uninjured shoulder, and before she could register what had happened or who it was, her hack had slammed into the cold wall, sending shooting pains all over her injured arm, shoulder blades and head. Leaf shut her eyes. She didn't need them to tell her who had just shoved her against a wall

"I heard some interesting things yesterday."

She took a deep breath and tried to hide her tremor. "I don't know what you're talking about." Leaf said as calmly as she could.

"When I heard about you and your diary, I figured you were hiding something. When you followed me out of class that day to the stairwell, it confirmed my guess and when I heard you and Erica talk yesterday I found out exactly what you're hiding."

Leaf swallowed. He knows. Leaf couldn't think of anything else. He knows her secret.

"The next few weeks should play out interestingly." Gary said with a smirk then left Leaf in the hall.

Leaf slid down the wall until she was sitting down. She pulled her knees up against her torso and wrapped her arms around them tightly. She couldn't stay here. She couldn't. She had to leave.

Now.

Xxxxxx

Okay, so this chapter is notably shorter than the last. I'm sorry but I thought it's a pretty good place to end the chapter! But at least I managed to a) get Gary to find out Leaf's secret and b) get Misty into the story in this chapter, even if we are a prologue and six chapters in.

Anyway, I realise that I'm rambling now so I'll leave you wuth 2 things:

1. My old fic _Can I Dream of You Once More? _is no longer discontinued due to a review and a really odd dream I had last night which gave me a brilliant idea for the ORS side of things (yes, I am tryong to promote my story).

2. Please review! Did I mention it's my brithday in 2 days? I could use a review as a present!

Lot's of love, silver-hedgehog


	8. Chapter 7

One Step at a Time

Updating on Valentine's day cause I have no life… Just kidding more like because I'm single and this just so happened to be written up by today :D hope you peeps out there like it!

_Italics = thoughts notes, texts, flashbacks etc._

Chapter 7

Leaf sat at the front of her and towards the door in her history class, trying hard to isolate herself from her cohort whilst being worried about her secret being leaked into the school population. It was a worrying thought to her; her secret was on the verge of being made the next big gossip around school, the thing that people would tease her about – and not even in that friendly way that she would use to secretly love. It would be full on abuse, she knew it already.

She was worried that they would make fun of her like how the haters back at her old school did. The ones who she'd go to the school paper committee or science club with, the ones who believe in careers and ambition over love and relationships. Leaf had a feeling that that's what most of the students here believed in.

The class was made worse when Leaf's isolation tactic backfired. Gary took the seat next to hers. He gave her a daunting smile that sent shivers running up and down her spine before he sat down in a typical slacker fashion: his blazer jacket carelessly slung over the edge of his seat, one arm hanging casuallyfrom his seat while the other rested on the desk and his legs out stretched, creating a tripping hazard for the late comers to the class. The look he gave Leaf had scared the wits out of her but she tried to hide it as best as she could.

Leaf tried to look for another seat. The class was mostly full and the only other spare seat was at the back where Gary would presumably normally sit when he wasn't trying to torment another victim. The seat was surrounded by Gary's friends. Leaf could recognise the green haired boy from a few days ago. It was only now that Leaf realised that he was probably the one who caused the injuries to that poor May girl that she had heard all about. (according to her memory, his name's Drew.) In front of the spare seat was a blonde who tried to steal Leaf's journal on her first day: Olivia. Neither of the seats were looking good but if Leaf had to choose, this one was the preferred one: near the door and withi the teacher's line of vision if Gary tried anything.

The teacher shut the door once all the students had arrived and settled into their seats and started the writing on the board behind him.

Leaf attempted to focus on what the teacher was writing and saying but she couldn't concentrate. Her eyes kept darting over to her tormentor on her right. He was doing something and Leaf could tell that whatever it was, it sure wasn't what he was supposed to be doing.

Gary looked up from what he was doing and gave the scared girl a menacing grin. He tore the sheet of paper that he had been writing on out of his notepad and folded it up then tossed it onto Leaf's desk.

The girl had been watching him the whole time, suspicious of every move he made and when the paper he previously held landed on her desk, Leaf couldn't move quick enough to unfold the piece of paper and read its contents.

_Maybe Olivia would like to know._

Leaf felt her blood drain from her body. She suddenly felt worse than she did before. Much worse. She felt her heart rate accelerate in fear. Her head turned to look at Gary whose eyes were on the teacher and the board but a smirk played on his lips. He was holding another piece of paper smugly, similar to the one he gave her. Her dilated pupils were fixated on the roughly folded piece of paper and without warning or thinking; Leaf lunged forward in her seat trying desperately to grab a hold on the sheet. She didn't care that she had caught the attention of the class, what mattered to her was that she got the sheet before anyone else could read its contents.

Gary had Leaf focused in his peripheral vision and the teacher in his main field of vision. He yanked his arm out of the way every time he sensed Leaf making a move to try to grab the sheet. It was only a matter of the time before the teacher caught onto the noise and when he did… Gary left his arm where it was on the desk.

Leaf's eyes widened when she realised she had a firm grasp on the sheet but it didn't take long for her to realise that the teacher had his eyes on her.

"Miss Green, we do not tolerate note passing in this class." The teacher said as he snatched the sheet out of Leaf's hands and stashed it in his drawer. "You can have it back at the end of class."

A victorious smirk spread across Gary's lips as the teacher resumed teaching.

Leaf felt nervous.

Xxxxxx

Class was almost over. Gary hadn't given Leaf much hassle since the note got confiscated, minus the few stares that would make her shuffle uncomfortably in her seat.

Most of the class had already started to pack their things away in preparation to dash out the door and off to their next class. Leaf just wanted to retrieve the note and run home, though it was unlikely she'd be able to get past the receptionist - her first attemt had already failed. She had already stopped her first attempt to get out of the building earlier on in the day.

Leaf quickly shoved her books into her bag, not caring about the pieces of paper that were getting crumpled in the process. Her nerves now were partly due to the fact that Gary was watching her again. She didn't need to look to know that his eyes were burning into her.

As soon as the bell rang, the students left. Gary took his time and sent Leaf one last smug look as he exited the room, leaving Leaf and the teacher behind. Leaf watched as the teacher opened his top drawer and pulled out the note that Leaf had been so desperate to get rid of.

He handed it to her with a stern warning. "Don't ever let me catch you passing notes in my class again or I will get you expelled. The school does not tolerate people like you."

_Oh, really? What about the guy who dislocated my shoulder? Last time I checked he's still here making life difficult for me!_

"Yes sir." Leaf said politely as she took the note and opened it up to read a message that she did NOT expect to see.

* * *

It was the second night in a row that Leaf had spent curled up in her bed with her duvet covering all of her except her face. She had her phone on hand, anticipating the texts that were inevitably going to arrive when Dawn realises that she wasn't going to show up at the park again because she wasn't in the mood to go. She wasn't in the mood to do anything.

Leaf clutched the note in her hands as she tried to remember what the teacher had said to her.

_Don't ever let me catch you passing notes in my class again or I will get you expelled._

If getting expelled really was that easy then Leaf wouldn't have to worry, but the problem remained that she'd still live in the same town as the people from Pallet High. The rumours would spread round town and eventually into Pallet Academy and the people there might try to torment her too. Would Dawn do that? She seemed too nice too but then again, Leaf didn't know the girl all that well. And what about Misty? She seemed like the type who'd try hard to protect a friend but did she see Leaf as a friend after that one meeting?

Leaf sighed and let the lone tear slowly trickle down her cheek. Saying she was stressed was understating it.

_Knock. Knock._

Leaf sat up, shoved the note under her duvet and quickly wiped her eyes just as the door cracked open. Karen popped her head in. "You're friends are here to see you again, Leafy." She said as she opened up the door even more to let Dawn and Misty into the room.

"Hey." Leaf greeted downwardly as Karen shut the door behind her as she left.

"We surprised you right, just popping up like that?" Dawn asked cheerfully as she bounced onto Leaf's bed and made herself comfortable like the day before.

"Yeah." Leaf replied, trying to sound like everything was okay even though the truth was she was feeling anything but.

"We sat in the park for a bit but we thought you might not show up again so we left early and headed here. I was going to text you first but I thought it'd be more fun if we just showed up like how we did."

"You surprised me all right." Leaf said monotonously.

"Are you okay, Leaf?" Misty asked, "You seem a bit down." Misty wanted to add that she noticed she looked even worse for wear than yesterday, if that was at all possible but refrained from doing so, after all they had just met.

"I'm fine." Leaf said as she shuffled over on her bed, making room for the fiery red head to sit down. "It's just been such a long day."

Misty nodded and sat down between Dawn and Leaf. She felt something as she sat down, something that felt like paper crinkling underneath her. The red head stood back up and removed the paper and read it.

_So that's how much it means to you. The secret is much more important to you than I thought._

She looked at Leaf suspiciously afterwards.

"What's this?" Misty asked.

"That's mine!" Leaf said as she tried to snatch it back from Misty.

Misty moved her hand out the way, distancing the note from Leaf. "You're being picked on by those stuck up ba-"

"Let's see!" Dawn said as she snatched the note and read it.

"Which one of them is it that's doing this? Is it that Drew? I bet it's him." Misty asked angrily. Her hands had curled up into tight fists.

"I don't know who this Drew is and I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not being bullied." Leaf said.

"When we met yesterday I wondered what was wrong with your arm but now I get it. They did that to you!" Misty said piecing two and two together faster than Dawn.

"You don't know anything!" Leaf said as she tossed her blanket to one side and stood up. The brunette was about the same height as the fiery red head. Leaf glared at Misty as fiercely as she could, letting all of frustration show with one look.

"I've been in your place before. I know exactly what you're going through. The bullying starts off as mild taunts and threats but that's going to change fast. Whoever wrote this to you obviously knows something you don't want them to and said person is not going to let it slide so easily."

Dawn watched as her two friends argued. She didn't quite understand how she managed to overlook Leaf's sadness and why Misty was so keen on tagging along when she had mentioned meeting a girl their age that goes to Pallet High. But now that the answer was so clear to her, a few other things made sense to her too. Misty wasn't just doing this because she didn't want Leaf to get hurt anymore; she wanted to do what she couldn't for May.

The moment Misty was kicked out of Pallet High was the day that she knew May would in serious trouble. When she had left, contact with May had ceased. May was fighting against a school full of rich delinquents alone. There was no way she would win. But now with Leaf, Misty knew the consequent steps. They knew something of hers; a secret. They were going to blackmail her with it, slowly break her down mentally until she screamed the secret out herself.

Misty knew this process all too well.

"Listen to me Leaf, they know something that you clearly don't want them to know." Leaf continued to glare at Misty as she spoke. "They're not going to forget about it. What you need to do is-"

"I just need to bargain with Gary-"

"Nononononono!" Misty said hastily, Leaf's expression softened. "Do not do that! Gary's the type of guy who plans his next move out. He knows that's what you'll do next, judging by the note." Misty said as she eyes the note in Leaf's hands. "What you need to do is to not go see Gary about it. Trust me."

Leaf gave Misty a wary look.

Dawn looked at Misty suspiciously. "Why do you know what this Gary guy is like? Who is he anyway?"

"Let's just say I've had a few encounters with him before." Misty said, avoiding giving more detail than necessary.

Xxxxxx

The first two periods of the day passed excruciatingly slowly. Leaf had tried to follow Misty's advice and to ignore Gary, do NOT try to negotiate with him. A move like that could land Leaf's secret in even more jeopardy and more jeopardy was not what Leaf needed in her life.

Though Leaf couldn't hide those suspicious glances she casted to the back of the classroom where Gary sat. Every time she turned round Gary would be in conversation with one of the boys from his gang, spreading curiosity into every inch of Leaf's body. Was he sharing her secret with them? She did hear them laugh quite a few times. Were they mocking her?

By the end of second period, Leaf found the tension of not knowing unbearable. She just had to know who he has told the secret to. Leaf tried to follow Gary to wherever he was heading to (presumably to the empty bike shed where all the shady students go) but stopped herself on many occasions. Misty had specifically told her NOT to go to him but to stay in one place, the safe place, the library, at the back where the couches were hidden away. It was apparently the safest place to be since most of the students never went that far into the library.

The large floor to ceiling windows provided a good view of the outside of the school, including the opening arch to the bike shed. Leaf could keep an eye on Gary from here but it was also likely that she would be spotted too. Unless Leaf sat on the couch, she would be exposed for everyone outside to spot her. According to Misty, that's a dangerous move.

Leaf sat down on the couch and picked a random book off the shelf and started to read it. The words in the book were uncomprehendable and the sentences were long, tedious to read and just would not compute in her head. She looked up and leaned over towards the window after every few sentences, trying to keep an eye on whether Gary was still in the bike shed and how the people who went in there with him were. Did they look like they'd found out something that would spread round the school like a fire? Leaf hoped not but that was for her to judge when they did finally flee the shelter.

Leaf sat and read some more of the book. What was she reading anyway? She flipped the book over and read the cover. _Laws of Kanto: Volume 1._ No wonder why it was so difficult to understand. Leaf had been too occupied to realise what she had picked up.

The bell eventually rang quietly. Leaf picked up her bag and headed out of the library, giving the librarian a curt nod as she let the door drop behind her and headed off to her third period history class.

Most of the class had already taken their respective seats when Leaf had arrived. She scanned the class for the boy that she had been desperately trying to stop herself approaching today but he wasn't there. Leaf took her seat in the corner from yesterday and unpacked her books and her pens when the chair next to hers scraped back loudly and she instantly froze, knowing exactly who it was.

He sat back in his seat and let his legs stretch forward, not bothering to unpack until the last moment, as per usual.

Leaf tried to take Misty's advice and take no notice of Gary. She kept her head level and her eyes glued to the timeline of past wars directly in front of her. It was all she could do to stop herself from asking about her secret.

Gary started tapping his fingers on the table rhythmically as if he was contemplating something.

The gently drumming was making Leaf nervous. _Don't give in! _

With his other hand, Gary ran a careless hand through his hair.

Leaf shifted in her seat. _Do NOT give in, Leaf!_ She could practically hear Misty say it. Even though she had only met the girl a few days ago, she gathered quite quickly what kind of tone the redhead would use in her situation.

Gary crossed one foot over his other at the ankle, creating the full image of a carefree teen.

_I can't do it!_

Leaf turned to Gary and looked him straight in the eyes.

Gary smirked. She played right into his hands.

xxxxxx

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I just want to say thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes! It totally made the run up to my birthday exciting like!

Remember to type a quick review and press send! Thanks!

Happy Valentine's Day :) if your single... Welcome to the club!

Silver-hedgehog


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